Vibratory feeder and storage device



July 13, 1965 R. w. MANDERBACH 3,194,392

VIBRATORY FEEDER AND STORAGE DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 27, 1963 ATTORNEY July 13, 1965 R. w. MANDERBACH 3,

VIBRATORY FEEDER AND STORAGE DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed larch 27, 1963 United. States Patent 3,194,392 Patented July 13, 1965 ice . 3,194,392 VIBRA'IORY FEEDER AND STORAGE DEVICE 7 Richard .W. Manderhach, Bethlehem, Pa., assignor to Western Electric Company, Incorporated, New York, -N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Mar. 27, 1963, Ser. No. 268,410 8 Claims. (til. 1?8220) This invention relates to a vibratory feeder and storage device and more particularly to a device having a planar spiral path that may be vibrated in one manner to feed articles from the path and that may be vibrated in another manner to feed articles into the path.

In the prior art it has been customary to use very elaborate devices for feeding and storing articles comprising positioners, pushers, transfer mechanisms and other components. The instant device avoids the use of such components by providing a magazine which supports, maintains orientation, feeds, and transfers the articles from the magazine to a machine where a fabrication step is performed. The articles are then fed to a second magazine similar to the first which stores the articles in an oriented manner for subsequent operations.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved vibratory device for feeding and storing electrical components such as transistor headers, or other articles.

It is another object of the invention to provide a planar spiral vibratory device which can be used interchangeably for either feeding or storing large numbers of transistor headers.

It is still a further object of the invention to provide a planar spiral vibratory feeding and storage device which maintains the transistor headers in a predetermined oriented position to minimize the possibility of jamming of the headers.

It is another object of the invention to provide a magazine having a planar spiral path which is loaded with transistor headers and which has helical oscillatory motion imparted thereto to feed the headers along the path and out of the magazine.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a second magazine having a planar spiral path in which transister headers can be reloaded by imparting helical oscillatory motion to the magazine.

With these and other objects in mind, the present invention contemplates a feeding apparatus comprising a plate having a horizontal planar spiral track to support a plurality of transistor headers therealong during feeding. The plate is supported on a platform of a conventional vibratory motor, such as that sold under the trademark Syntron and disclosed in the Syntron Company's catalog SM 7/1/59 R0. #55801, page 9, for imparting helical oscillatory motion to the plate. During feeding from the plate, helical oscillation is imparted to the plate which will move the headers from the center of the plate toward an edge. When the plate is receiving articles for storage, helical oscillation in areverse direction is imparted to the plate which causes the articles to move from an edge of the plate toward the center.

A feature of this invention is a work feeding and storage plate capable of simple removal from one work area and portable transport to another area.

Another feature of this invention is a work feeding and storage plate which is capable of feeding and maintaining the headers in oriented relationship within rela tively small work and storage areas, respectively. For example, it is possible with a plate having a planar spiral dimension of approximately eight inch diameter and a inch track width to accommodate the same number of headers thereon as a linear track having a length of approximately /2 feet.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description, in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an electrical component such as a transistor header that may be fed and stored by the apparatus of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a vibratory bowl feeding headers to a straight vibratory track to initially load a magazine comprised of a plate having a planar spiral track and embodying the principles of the present invention;

7 FIG. 3 is a plan view of a loaded magazine feeding headers to a machine from which the headers are then fed intoa second magazine for storage;

FIG. 4 is a side elevation of the apparatus showing the vibratory motors and their associated platforms for supporting the feeding and storage magazines;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 3 showing the headers supported on the planar spiral strip track;

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a second embodiment of the invention in which the plate of the magazine has a planar spiral groove for supporting the headers;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view of the magazine taken on line 77 of FIG. 6 and particularly showing the configuration of the planar spiral groove;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary sectional view of a magazine showing a third configuration of a planar spiral groove having a keyway and an open top;

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary sectional view of a magazine showing a fourth configuration of a planar spiral'groove fabricated from a plurality of plates; and

. FIG. 10 is a fragmentary sectional view of a magazine showing a fifth configuration of a planar spiral groove having an open top. 7

Referring to the drawings and in particular to FIG. 1, there is shown an electrical component such as a transistor header 10 having a head 15, a flange portion 17, and at least a pair of depending terminals 16. Transistor headers of this type may be fed and stored by the device comprising the instant invention although it is to be understood that this transistor header is only used as an example and that other articles can be fed and stored by the device.

Referring to FIG. 2, there is shown a vibratory bowl 31 of conventional design for receiving randomly arranged headers in the central or bottom bowl portion 35 of the apparatus. Upon subjection of the bowl 31 to vibratory motion, the headers are fed upwardly on a spiral path 32 connected to the inner peripheral surface of the bowl in a well known manner to a straight section 34 of the apparatus. At this point, the headers are vertically oriented in a line along section 34 and are transferred to an adjoining straight vibratory track 33 which is vibrated by a vibratory motor, not shown, to feed the headers to a magazine 11. Magazine 11 is vibrated in such a manner that the headers move along a planar spiral path toward the center of the magazine to fill the magazine.

Referring now to FIG. 3, there is shown a loaded magazine 11 which feeds transistor headers 10 to a straight vibratory track 18 which feeds the headers to a machine 20 where a fabrication step is performed on the headers. The headers are then fed from the machine 20 along a straight vibratory track 27 to a storage magazine 21. Magazine 11 is comprised of a metal plate 14 which is generally square in shape but which has a right angle notched portion to provide an edge 19. Plate 14 has a strip or track 12 formed in the shape of a planar spiral and attached thereto by welding, riveting or some other suitable means. The planar spiral strip 12 has one end located in the central portion of plate 14 and the other 3 straddling are' occurrin g .very

\ V ya sasoai end of the strip terminates at the edge :19 of the plate,

the end of the strip being perpendicularto saidedge. The; upper surface of strip 12,'see FIG S, supports the headers 1 on the under side of'head 15' with'the terminals 16] the strip. 12. to prevent the headers from falling a'duplicate of magazine 11 except l thahthe helical oscillation: imparted thereto is the reverse a g of that imparted to magazine 11. Magazine 21 is cornprised-of a plate 24 having anotched portionto provide oft. Magazine 21' is an edge-29.. Plate 24 hasa strip 22 attached thereto which has one endflin the centralportion of plate and" the other end terminates perpendicular to the edgezf29 adjoining the; straight vibratory track 27.

zine J11: .to the platform 37. The platform 37- lis' connectedto a conventional. vibratory motor 25 which whenmaga'zine 21 has a planarspiral strip 22': attachedith'ei-eto Y'iThe operation ofma'gazine 21 in reloading theheaders isjsirnilar to that of magazine 11 except: that a reverse helical oscillatory i .movement is imparted ot, the latt'er by the vibratory motor j a 26; Aftenmagazine 11 removed toj anotherlmachinefand used'as a storage device a used in FIG. 3.? In the same'tsense x been lpaded with heade'rs asjshown' 1f.

has been unloaded, it; can be easily such as magazine 21 is in FIGQS, it can be removed to'asecond machine and used 1 to feed headers to the machine as'maga zine ill ages-is j FIG 3.' Thus, itcan be seen thatzthernagazines are intera;

' chanegable as feeding andasistorage devices."

imparts helical oscillatory motion to the magazine 11; i

that is,

the magazine 11 is oscillated about its vertical 5 axis and atthe same timev is reciprocated vertically. .In the case of magazine ILaninitiaI combined downward and clockwise movement causes the headers to be n mentarily suspended off the track. This-is followedbyan i upward motion Whichisaccornpaniedby a counterclockwise movement in the same direction asthe planar spiral path unfolds from'the center; .of plate 14, 'During. this combined upward andfcounterclockwise movement,- the headers regain contact with th'e planar spiral path and i are advanced upwardly and arcuately in-acounterclock- Wise direction to anadvanced position from their prece'ding rest positioninthe magazine! The magazine ill having returned to its initial. position is now ready to again move in a downward'clockwise direction to suspend-the 1 headers after which an upward; counterclockwise movie headerl 16' straddle; al stripi 12,.

6 and Z'is used. comprises a plateJMj. in which: aigrooveis machinedin V theform Ofaplananspiral: path for supporting-andguim ing the; headers;

The groove .is closed 7 V at the top to provide a cavity; is withisufficient clearance for receiving the head ofthe header to present jamming and is suf-w ficiently wide; to allow free passage of itheihead; j Thebot-f 7 tom of the; groove is i open as .shown at.- 4 '7= tog-allows the}; terminals 1 toghangt. ;treely Between the top and;bot-, I: .tom 'portions, of; the. groove is a keyway. to-comprising; Q

a pair ofslotslrunning along oppositeiwallsofthe groove The slots of the keywaylifiserve to support and 'guiderthe; opposite sides of the flange 17 i The provision'ofrkeyway -i alleviates jamming andpiling; a up of theheaders because ithe's headers areqconstrained about the fia-nges. In this:embodiment,:as in' all embodi i ments, magazine '41 is initially loaded from theg vib'r'atoryi' ment advances the. headers further. around. the 'planar i spiral path in a similartmanner;

the magazine; It is to b eau nderstood that these motions thezeye. 7 Themovemept of magazine 21, whichissimilarlyprovided with a sleeve 39 Whichis. supported on a shaft .23

Itshould be noted that. the di'stance advanced bythe headers during eachcyclelis afunction, among other things, .of the mass'of the headers and the amplitude of the oscillatory motionimparted to.v

rapidly and would not be discerniblevbyf and platformiiifi of a vibratory motor 26, is the reverse of magazinell, The direction of the feed of the headers 1n theimagazines'll, and Zljsdetermined by the manner in which the platforms 3.7and 38 are: vibrated. This in turn, isfdetermined by the, position of bar springs (not shown) which are'mounted beneath the platforms 37 and 38 as is conventional in fSyntron vibratory motors. Since itqis desired to feed headers-10 in a. clockwise direc ablemeans This Ienablesa tion on the spiral path as it folds intothe vcenter, 'ini-m.

. tially thegrnagazine. is moved downwardlyand rotated in; a counterclockwise direction; A return. movement in a.

clockwise direction accompanied by any upward movement results in reloadingof the magazine 21.

' In operation helical oscillations aretimparted to maga inc 11 by the vibratory motor .25, to feed headers 103 supported on the planar'spiral strip 12 from the'center ofif plate-14 tio'edgc 1901: the plate. Adjoining the end of the strip 12111 the edge 19 of the plate isaistraight vibra:

.tory track,18which is vibrated by a motordnot shown.

Track lsfeeds headers 110 to a machine 20' atwhichian 7 operation is performed on'the headers.

From machine .20 theheade rs are fed to another straight vibratory track a 2 7 which is vibrated by'a motor, not shown, to feed the V headers to the edgeportion 29 of asecond plate 24 having bowl 311 as is' described .Zine 41 is thenzus ed in.

- with referenceto Inag'aizinellQ M p 1 H In FIG; 8,' "there is'ishown .a third embodiment'inwhich t.

on a planar spiral shelf m t'd ar nafmml a menti n with reference to FIG 2x Maga the magazine-is fabricated from'asingle' plate 54 to form U a planar sp1ral:,groove having 'a configuration ofa cruciv g l 11f. thisi'enibo'diment, ithegroove is op'en; at? the top and bottom *ati55' and, 57V, respectively;forj i j g V head 15. and ;terminalsriozthereins {At-grooved 'k'ey wayf 55gis' provided withsloIt-sloh lopposite lateral? sides of the a grooved patlifor receiving theheader flange' which in turn permits the heade'rzto 'be supp m d and guided through: thespiralgroove i L :In FIG;9;-there,islshown aifo'urth embodimentwhich is fabricated from two plates; and hi which are rse-fi g; cured togethen' by'.Welding riyeting*or-some otherYsuit- :simplifiedfabricationl This,

magazine functions similar. to the magazine shown in 8'. In Qhis rembodimentplatelfi i is provided with a'planarf spiral opening elthrough which theheadcltiiofthe header} 7 V This, free to pass. Plate 65 spiral 'shelfiZ :whic'hfforins a ilarto. that. shown in FIG. 7

alsohas a planar spiralt 'opening 63athroughwhich-theter: minalsl are free to hang 7 the headerselfl droppingon the magazine; '21 at advanced positions; Thus the headers move toward the center of-the plate 24. in a -clockwise manner: during I In FIG;l0,there-isshown. a

hang down tarougha planar spiral groove 76.

It isito be'understoodthattheabove-described arrange: I i ments of apparatus' a'ndconstructionof'ele t l' r i":

are simply illustrative of an :apfilicatioir o flthei-principles' ofythe inventionyhndimany othersmodifi ations'may be What is claimed is; i 1. In an articlefeed device,

afiat plate having afplanar spiral passageway terminat 7 ing'iat afirst end near the 'centeri'of the plate-and term;

.I some': cases it is inotcfeasible lto thave the transistorf a'sglzfor iexamplepwhen theends. of, theiterrninals' are connected .together; iln such cases, a .moditie'dfrnagazine, such has that "shown-in FIGS.) g i i Inkthisembodiment jthe magazine '41; 7

- l header' asthezl V hgader isifedialong ai r a l ath of .the grooves the same manner as s escribe'dl" ;is' provided with aplanarilreyway fwithiplatefi t sin t Y as element:46.- fPlate:65 V

fifth embodimentwhich is fabricated-"from asingle' pla-te".7,5 in which thehead portion i thegheaderis free-to:extendupwardly inf I anlopeningfid'. The flangfifl: of the header; issi1pp ortedI; '74. with the terminals {16 free to:

5 minating at the other end in a vertical edge of the plate,

said passageway extending partially through the crosssection of the plate opening into the bottom face thereof, and having a keyway for supporting and orienting articles in a depending manner through the opening,

a vertical support shaft attached to one face of the plate, and

means for imparting helical oscillatory forces to said shaft wherein a downward force component is accompanied by a rotative component of force in a direction opposite to the direction that the planar spiral unfolds from the center of the plate to suspend momentarily the articles, and a reverse motion of an upward force component accompanied by a rotative component in the direction that the planar spiral unfolds from the center whereupon the suspended articles drop into the passageway in an advanced position.

2. In an article feed and storage apparatus,

a first plate having a first planar spiral passageway extending from the center of the plate to an edge of the plate for holding a supply of articles,

means for supporting and imparting helical oscillatory forces to said first plate to feed articles from said first spiral passageway,

a second plate having a second planar spiral passageway extending from an edge of the plate toward the center of the plate for receiving the supply of articles,

means for transferring articles emanating from the first spiral passageway to the second spiral passageway, and

means for supporting and imparting helical oscillatory forces to said second plate to feed the articles into said second spiral passageway.

3. In an article feeding and storage apparatus according to claim 2 having means for removably securing the first and second plates to the supporting and imparting means to facilitate a portable transfer of the plates between the respective supporting and imparting means.

4. In a magazine for feeding articles in a single plane, said articles having a head, a flanged portion, and depending terminals attached to the flange, comprising a plate positioned in a horizontal plane, said plate having a groove extending from the central portion of the plate to an outer terminus at an edge of the plate, said groove following a path in the shape of a spiral from the central portion to the edge, and said groove having a cross section in the shape of a cruciform, said cruciform having a transverse keyway to support the flanged portion, a cavity for receiving the head, and a bottom opening through which the terminals hang freely, and

means for imparting helical oscillatory motion to the plate to move the articles along the groove in the horizontal plane to the edge of the plate.

5. In a magazine for feeding articles as defined in claim 4 wherein the plate has a right-angle notch to provide an edge at the outer terminus of the groove.

6. In a device for feeding articles in a single plane, said articles having a head, a flanged portion, and depending terminals attached to the flange comprising,

a plate positioned in a horizontal plane, said plate having a groove extending from the central portion of the plate to an edge thereof, said groove following a planar spiral path from the central portion to the edge, and said groove having a cross section in the shape of a cruciform, the cruciform having a transverse keyway to support the flanged portion, a top opening to ailow free movement of the head, and a bottom opening through which the terminals hang freely, and

means for imparting helical oscillatory motion to the plate to move the articles along the groove in the horizontal plane of the plate to the edge.

7. In an article feeding and storage device, comprising:

a first plate having a first planar spiral passageway extending from the center of the plate to a vertical edge of the plate for holding a supply of articles,

a second plate spaced from the first plate having a second planar spiral passageway and a second vertical edge of substantially the same configuration as said first passageway and edge for receiving the supply of articles,

a first vibratory means for supporting and imparting vibrations to the first plate to feed articles toward the first vertical edge,

means aligned with the first vertical edge for transferring articles from the first edge to the second edge, and

a second vibratory means for supporting and imparting vibrations to the second plate in a direction opposite to said first vibratory means to feed the articles from the second vertical edge into said second spiral passageway.

8. In an article feeding and storage device, said articles having a head, a fianged portion, and depending terminals attached to the flange, comprising:

a first plate having a first planar spiral passageway extending from the center of the plate to a vertical edge of the plate for holding a supply of articles,

means for supporting and imparting vibratory forces to said first plate to feed articles from said first spiral passageway,

21 second plate having a second planar spiral passageway extending from a vertical edge of the plate toward the center of the plate for receiving the supply of articles,

said first and second spiral passageways having crosssections of generally cruciform configuration for supporting and constraining the articles about the flanged portion and for allowing the depending terminals to hang freely,

means aligned with the vertical edges of the first and second plates for transferring articles emanating from the first spiral passageway to the second spiral passageway, and

means for supporting and imparting vibratory forces to said second plate to feed the articles into said second spiral passageway.

References Cited by the Examiner FOREIGN PATENTS 348,367 2/19 Germany. 127,560 12/60 U.S.S.R.

SAMUEL F. COLEMAN, Primary Examiner.

35 EDWARD A. SROKA, Examiner. 

1. IN AN ARTICLE FEED DEVICE, A FLAT PLATE HAVING A PLANAR SPIRAL PASSAGEWAY TERMINATING AT A FIRST END NEAR THE CENTER OF THE PLATE AND TERMINATING AT THE OTHER END IN A VERTICAL EDGE OF THE PLATE, SAID PASSAGEWAY EXTENDING PARTIALLY THROUGH THE CROSSSECTION OF THE PLATE OPENING INTO THE BOTTOM FACE THEREOF, AND HAVING A KEYWAY FOR SUPPORTING AND ORIENTING ARTICLES IN A DEPENDING MANNER THROUGH THE OPENING, A VERTICAL SUPPORT SHAFT ATTACHED TO ONE FACE OF THE PLATE, AND MEANS FOR IMPARTING HELICAL OSCILLATORY FORCES TO SAID SHAFT WHEREIN A DOWNWARD FORCE COMPONENT IS ACCOMPANIED BY A ROTATIVE COMPONENT OF FORCE IN A DIRECTION OPPOSITE TO THE DIRECTION THAT THE PLANAR SPIRAL UNFOLDS FROM THE CENTER OF THE PLATE TO SUSPEND MOMENTARILY THE ARITCLES, AND A REVERSE MOTION OF AN UPWARD FORCE COMPONENT ACCOMPANIED BY A ROTATIVE COMPONENT IN THE DIRECTION THAT THE PLANAR SPIRAL UNFOLDS FROM THE CENTER WHEREUPON THE SUSPENDED ARTICLES DROP INTO THE PASSAGEWAY IN AN ADVANCED POSITION. 